Editorial: Confusion derails response to Paulsboro spill

Since Friday morning’s toxic train derailment on a railway bridge, the public has faced a bewildering set of confusing and contradictory directives.

Are residents supposed to shelter in place or evacuate? Are businesses ordered to open or close? Are schools open or closed, or both in the same day, which happened not only Friday but again on Monday? How safe is the air and water, and from what distance?

What about fallout from airborne gases? How can people get answers, whom can they call, how are the decisions being made, and how is information being communicated in this emergency?

In other words, who’s in charge?

Here’s what’s been happening:

1. The accident occurred on a Conrail bridge over the Mantua Creek in a residential area. The bridge and the tracks are private property, owned by rail giant CSX, but railways are under federal jurisdiction. CSX employees got to work immediately, attempting to contain the spill, upright the rail cars, and clear the bridge.

2. Shortly, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived and asserted authority, moving residents away from the area pending an investigation.

3. By Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard was on the scene, brushing aside the NTSB till the waterways are secure, since Mantua Creek is a Delaware River tributary.

4. On Sunday afternoon, the Coast Guard evacuated a 12-block area through Dec. 8, though some residents had already returned home.

5. On Monday, schools were opened and then closed again by mid-morning, putting children in harm’s way twice: Once going to school and once coming home. One can only imagine the annoyance and inconvenience felt by parents.